People have vices and that’s understandable. I respect that because I have vices myself, (hint: they involve a certain intense actor from the movie “300”).
However, that’s not the topic that will be addressed. Instead, smoking is up for discussion. Most people know that apart from being dangerous, smoking is also disgusting and smelly.
Granted, this is a free country and people have the right to enjoy a cigarette, but in a fair world, non-smokers would be allowed to enjoy fresh air and clear lungs.
In an effort to not be pretentious, the scope of my desire for clean air will be narrowed down to one place: school. While having cigarettes on campus is prohibited, nicotine addicts have somehow managed to fool the system, find the closest possible non-school owned property to satisfy their needs and somehow trick the usually alert administration into minding their own business.
So, while they’re out there shortening their life spans with each puff, some poor junior is getting screamed at by the security guard for not parking in the correct lines. Though it is assumed that fairness is not a matter of concern since we do not live in a utopian society, these words are written as a plea to administration: please leave that poor inexperienced driver alone and figure out a way to eliminate the “smoker’s corner.”
Maybe take a tape measure out there and wait until one of them is careless enough to cross into school boundaries, or perhaps “accidentally” spray unappealing scents in the area; whatever works.
Los Alamos High School students know that the school administrators can be very dedicated in matters such as these if they choose to be, and while at times they seem to exaggerate rules, smoking is one of the things most people at LAHS would be glad to see gone. Once administration sets its priorities straight and the small proportion of smoker’s corner party-goers understand that we live in a democracy — and the majority of students voted them out — there will not only be a lesser chance of getting cancer at our school, but also a higher chance for the ex-smokers to make new friends because, guess what? People like others that smell good.
P.S.: Unnamed kid in my poetry class: If you’re reading this, I beg you to stop smoking before coming to class. Your scent brings me into a daily state of agony.